SKYBET Elite League LEADERS Poole Pirates were made to walk the plank in no uncertain fashion as Oxford Silver Machine inflicted a thumping 65-29 defeat at Oxford Stadium last night.

The Pirates, who clearly didn't relish the tricky racing surface were dreadful, and Silver Machine took full advantage.

Travis McGowan and Greg Hancock led the way with paid 17 and paid 15 points respectively.

Sterling work by track staff made sure the meeting went ahead, but even so, some of the Pirates, including Ryan Sullivan, were not happy with the surface and more grading meant a delayed start.

And their was an explosive opening heat when Poole No 1 Bjarne Pedersen came a real cropper down the home straight after trying to catch McGowan.

He parted company with his machine which went spiralling into the air as he crashed heavily into the fence, sustaining severe back bruising and concussion which forced him to miss the rest of the meeting.

With Krystof Kasprzak failing to get off the grid and Pedersen excluded, Hancock and McGowan coasted to a 5-0.

Niels-Kristian Iversen and Ryan Fisher, plus another win for Hancock, saw the home side take an early 17-6 lead.

But there was some hope for the visitors as Sullivan was competitive in heat six which saw Iversen hit the pits bend fence, and was excluded by referee Ronnie Allan.

However, McGowan rose to the occasion in the re-run to to collar Sullivan to take the Silver Machine 25-10 ahead.

Hancock nursed Jonas Davidsson home in heat seven, before McGowan and Iversen raced clear to wiped out Poole's 21-point advantage from Wednesday's first leg.

Pirates boss Neil Middleditch used Sullivan in a tactical ride to attempt to stem the tide, and it worked as the deficit was reduced by three points.

The response was short-lived, however, as the Silver Machine hammered home another two maximums to seal victory with four heats left.

With Swindon moving above Oxford after a double victory over Coventry on Thursday, it was imperative that the Silver Machine clinched the bonus point which they duly did.

Oxford: McGowan 15+2, Hancock 13+2, Fisher 10+3, Iversen 9+3, Dobrucki 9+1, Davidsson 9. 65 pts.

Poole: Sullivan 13, Zetterstrom 6, D Davidsson 5, Ferjan 4, Kasprzak 1, Pedersen 0. 29 pts.

NIELS-KRISTIAN Iversen is on World Under 21 Final duty, and misses Oxford Silver Machine's trip to Eastbourne tonight.

He is due to return for Silver Machine's clash with Belle Vue at Oxford Stadium on Monday (12 noon).

Oxford (v Eastbourne, tonight): Rider-replacement, McGowan, Fisher, Dobrucki, Hancock, Davidsson, Madsen.